


Isn't this just like us?

by KirstieJ



Series: let's try this again [1]
Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Apologies, Car Accidents, Family, Found family and birth family coming together, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Not Canon Compliant, Oh and doug still has his memories so..., Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-22 22:47:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13176813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KirstieJ/pseuds/KirstieJ
Summary: A car crash tore Doug Eiffel's life apart, and it was all his own doing. Years later, a car crash brings him (along with his new, messy, found family) back to what used to be his family, and gives him a chance at truly facing and overcoming the life-altering decisions he made.





	Isn't this just like us?

**Author's Note:**

> I don't have any sort of full grasp on the legal proceedings in the United States regarding child care, especially not with how complicated this situation is, so I definitely took some liberties with that (i did do some research, though, at least on how the process of "who gets the child after a parent dies") as well, I doubt this is how the legal proceedings would go down but... whatever.

Six months after the remaining crew of the Hephaestus returns to earth on the Uraina, Doug Eiffel receives a phone call.

It’s from a lawyer, and later that day -or, rather, early the next morning- he’s on a plane with his four closest friends. Two hours or so after they land, he’s stepping through the doors of a hospital, his hands shaking at his sides.

“Doug,” he hears Renée say from beside him. He feels her surprisingly soft hand take his cold, sweaty one.

“I’m okay,” he assures her, without her having to ask. He nods his head, “I’m fine.”

“You’re shaking like a leaf,” she murmurs, and he keeps nodding.

“Yeah,” he says.

Isabel returns to them, having gone up to the front desk, bearing the information they need. She and Daniel take the lead to the room they’re looking for, Renée and Doug right behind them. Once they’re in the general section, they’re directed to a waiting room until the current visitors are finished.

“I _hate_ hospitals,” Daniel comments, and Renée fixes him with a glare.

“Is now really the time?” she says in a hushed, warning tone.

“Hospitals suck, super bad. Wouldn’t you say, Doug?”

“Yeah,” he sighs, chest heaving up as he tries to take in a deep breath and it gets caught. “Hospitals… are the fucking worst,” he says. He squeezes Renée’s hand and she puts her free one of top of their joined two and catches his eye, offering a sympathetic smile. He just shakes his head in response and she gives a little nod.

A few excruciatingly long moments pass. Doug can hear the beeping of monitors and ticking of the clock on the wall and the electrical hum of the lights. Or, maybe that’s the vending machine down the hall? The walls in the hall are too white, even if the waiting room is a little more comfortable.

Then, two people arrive at the door. Doug hears his name, his full name, and turns from Renée to see his father and his mother for what is only the second time since he’s been back to earth.

“Mom, dad,” Doug says, taking in a sharp breath through his nose.

“Son,” his dad nods at him.

“Hello baby,” his mother says, a southern drawl evident in her voice. Doug lets go of Renée’s hand to receive a hug from his mother, sniffing just a little. “And who are these folks?” she asks him, looking around the room.

“You must be Commander Minkowski,” Doug’s father says, voice gruff as he nods towards Renée.

“Former Commander, but- yes, sir,” Renée says with a nod back at him.

“I saw you on the news, when they first announced you were dead,” he says. “And, of course, again when you came back to life.” Then, he turns to Isabel, “I never saw anything of you, Captain, until the stories of your return, but I’ve been following it now,” Finally, he looks at Daniel, “And the demolitions expert. Because that’s something any space mission would need.”

“Well, we wouldn’t be back here without him,” Doug says, just barely resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

“I’m just saying,” he says. “The point was, I’ve been keeping tabs. And for the record, I did tell you mother about these people.”

“Oh, Roger,” Doug’s mother does roll her eyes at him. “I was going to let them introduce themselves, and you know I don’t have a mind for names in stories anyway,” she waves her hand. 

“Yes, well,” Roger Eiffel says. It doesn’t appear he’s going to be saying anything more, so Doug turns to his mom.

“It’s very nice to finally meet you all,” she picks up. “I’m Linda, and this is my husband Roger.” Renée reaches out to shake each of their hands. Roger accepts it, but Linda waves her off and grabs her for a hug. Roger shakes hands with Isabel and Daniel, too, while Linda insists on hugging them.

“Ma,” Doug says, once she’s finished. “How’s she doing?” he asks, his heart beating hard.

“Which one, Dougie?”

“Both.”

“Well, Katie is still resting. She’s tore up pretty bad. She’s doing okay for now but she’s got a long road ahead,” Linda shakes her head and clicks her tongue. “Anne, she’s just.. she’s okay, but she’s pretty down. Understandably so.”

“Yeah,” Doug nods. “Can I… should I go-?”

“You can go in now,” Linda nods. “Room 212.”

“Yeah,” he says again.

“Doug,” Renée says. “Do you want me to come with you?” she asks, squeezing his arm.

He shakes his head, “Nah, Né. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” she says.

With that, Doug takes a deep breath and walks out of the waiting room, down the hall, and finds the room. He opens the door and takes a step in, looking around.

It’s a pretty regular hospital room. There’s a bed and a couple of chairs, some flowers on the windowsill. The walls are an ugly sterile colour. A monitor is beeping next to the bed and there’s a clock ticking somewhere in the room.

On the bed lies a sleeping form, looking battered and bruised, looking almost nothing like the woman he was once so in love with. Not only is she grievously injured, but there’s been a lot of time between them. It’s a very strange and sad sight indeed.

And finally, on one of the chairs near the bed, sits a little girl, about 12 or 13 years of age. She’s got a complexion similar to the woman on the bed but her hair is the same colour as Doug’s own. “Hey,” he says, and she doesn’t look up. Duh.

Doug takes a step forward and gently places a hand on her shoulder. She looks up, and he takes back his hand.

“Hello,” he says, and does the proper ASL sign. “How are you?” he asks a beat later, signing along with it.

“I’m okay,” she says, and signs back. Then, she looks down again for a moment before lifting her head.

“Um,” he says, biting his tongue. “I tried to learn as much sign language as possible,” he says, and he has the relevant signs for that down pat. “But, I definitely didn’t learn enough for what I’d like to say to you. I, uh, I have something that might help.” He signs as much as he can to get the point across, and she nods.

“Okay,” he says, then slips his hand in his pocket and takes out a sleek phone with a geometric pattern in blue, green, and white for the case. “Hey, Hera. You there?” he asks, smiling just a little at his own dumb joke.

“Of course,” she responds.

“Can you do the… words thing that we talked about, please?”

“With pleasure,” she tells him, a little blue light turning on and projecting up from the camera on the phone. “Okay. It should work once you talk.”

“Thanks, sweetheart,” he says, and the words appear in the air, facing Anne. “So, yeah,” he says, holding it up and offering it to her. “This will project what I’m saying so you can read along. I know you have some hearing, right?” She shrugs and sort of nods. “But, uh, maybe this will make it easier?”

“I think so,” she says, nodding.

“Oh! And, it’s controlled by my friend, Hera. She’s an AI. Hera, say hi.”

“Hi,” Hera says, projecting her words in pink rather than the blue she chose for Doug.

“Hi,” Anne says.

“She’s saved my life countless times,” Doug explains. “But, anyway. I think we have some things to talk about?”

“Yeah,” Anne says. “I guess. I got your letter. Letters.”

“Oh? Letter ** _s_**?” he asks, and knits his brows.

Anne turns to the bag beside her and pulls a stack of papers out, taking in a deep breath as she hands them over. On top is the transcription of the log he recorded for her before he left space. Below that, are scraps of letters and notes that he started writing her and never finished before he left for the mission.

“Oh,” he says.

“When you left prison to go to space, they gave me and mom all of the stuff you didn’t take. These were addressed to me.”

“Yeah,” he rubs the back of his neck. “Anne, I think by now it’s clear that I am extremely, remarkably sorry.” She nods. “I do have something to say for myself, if you’re willing to… read it,” he says. She makes a noise that might be a laugh and he winces.

“Okay,” she says, shrugging with her free hand and shoulder. “Let’s hear, well, about every third word of it. But only kind of.” She gives a half smirk.

Doug almost smiles at her, but it drops as he takes his breath and centres himself. “Anne, I hurt you in so many different ways. Not only with the crash, not only injuring you, but leaving you with the knowledge that your own father made a decision _that_ dumb, and put you in harm’s way. And then I left. Without even finishing a letter to you,” he shakes his head, looking at her. “I’ve hurt you, and I am so _deeply_ sorry for that. I want to try to earn your forgiveness. If I get the chance, I will never stop doing everything I can to make it up to you. I promise you that,” he says. “I can’t promise that I won’t do some more dumb things, but I will _never_ put you in danger like that again, and I will _never_ hurt you so severely, ever again. I mean that.”

Anne just nods along. Doug puts a hand to his face, taking yet another shaky breath. He removes his hand and continues.

“I’m not asking you to just accept me back into your life, like, la-de-da. And, I will respect any and every wish you have, regarding how often we see each other. Or if we do at all. If you want me to, if you say so, I will walk out that door right now and I’ll respect your decision not to see me, _but,_ ” he takes a sharp breath, “I’ll leave you with the knowledge that you _always_ have the opportunity to open that door again. And if you do, I will drop everything to meet you there. But it’s your choice, okay? This is on your terms.” 

Anne nods her head more, her lip wobbling.

“I love you more than anything in this entire universe, Anne,” Doug says, “I really, truly do. And I’ve seen quite a bit of it, by now. I want what’s best for you, and I’ll admit that I don’t fully know what that is, but I trust that you do. Any call is yours to make. How does that sound?”

Anne sniffs, “Pretty garbled and a fuzzy, technically, even with the hearing aids.” Doug blinks, and she looks away. “Sorry. Not the time for dumb jokes, I know. I just-“’

“It’s okay,” Doug says, holding his hands up. She looks up again and he repeats, “it’s okay.” This time, she nods.

“It reads really well, though,” she says. He lets out a nervous laugh, and she starts to chuckle.

“Fuck,” Doug whispers, disbelieving, and she laughs more abruptly. He sighs. “Hera, you don’t have to project the muttered swear words, you know.”

“Sorry. I’m just transcribing it like it is.”

“I want to be able to read anything that’s said. It’s only fair,” Anne says, firm.

“Fine,” Doug says, “that is fair,” he admits. “So. Uh. That’s my pitch.”

“Okay,” Anne nods once more. “Received and acknowledged.” Doug opens his mouth to speak, but he’s distracted by the groaning coming from behind him.

“Uh, it seems like mom’s waking up,” he says. “I-I guess I should probably leave? I was asked to be here to see you, so,” he says.

“Douglas?” the voice from behind him says.

“Crap,” he mutters, and Anne laughs again. “You really think curse words are that funny? What are you, like, twelve?” he asks.

“Thirteen. Jesus, Douglas,” Anne says, mocking tone.

“I did know that,” he says, pointing at her with his finger. “We made it back to earth two and a half weeks before your birthday,” he says. “Which, by the way, I was going to send a card or something, but I wanted to give you time with the letter first, so… I have something if you want it later, but that’s not important now.” She just nods at him more, a little smirk on her face.

“Hey, Kate,” Doug says, turning around. Anne stands up and goes over to the bed.

“Douglas,” she repeats. “So nice to see you,” she says, then coughs.

“Kaitlyn,” he says. “Yeah, uh, nice to you too? Not the most favorable circumstances for a reunion, but,” Doug sucks in his breath through his teeth.

“Isn’t that just like us?” Kate says. “Annie,” she says, adjusting the bed so she can be sitting up as best she can. She groans a little more.  

“Hi, mom,” she says. “How do you feel?”

“As good as I look,” Kate replies.

“So, terrible?” Doug says.

“Ouch,” she says, “You’re one to talk. You kind of look like hell yourself, Doug.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” he says, his eyes wide, “and I just got back from there a few months ago. Also, flew in this morning starting at 4am, so? Either way, I just meant- you look pretty banged up.”

“A head-on collision will do that to you,” Kate tells him. He takes in a deep breath.

“Yeah, I know,” he says.

“I... also didn’t mean it like that,” Kate says, quiet. “Hey, uh what’s this thing you have, Annie?”

“Douglas gave it to me,” Anne says. “It’s Hera, and she’s projecting everything you two say so I can read it instead of trying to follow along with what you’re saying verbally.”

“Oh. Neat,” Kate says.

“Nice to meet you, by the way,” Hera says.

“Oh,” Kate repeats. “She also talks by herself?”

“I guess,” Anne says, shrugging.

“Oh, yeah,” Hera says, “I’m an AI. Technically most of ‘me’ is back at the house, but, since there’s wifi here, I can access Doug’s phone and do all sorts of neat stuff. I mean, I’m also accessing Daniel’s and Renée’s phones, currently. But, that’s irrelevant information.”

“You’re really cool, Hera,” Anne says.

“Awh! Thanks! I think you’re cool too, Anne.”

“Thank you,” Anne replies.

“Very interesting,” Kate says. “Douglas,”

“Kaitlyn,” he counters.

“Doug,” she repeats.

“Kate,” he says, “sorry, I’ll quit. What are you trying to say?”

“We need to talk,” Kate says.

“Oh god,” Doug says.

“Will you just-“

“Okay, yes, I’m sorry,” he says. “Shutting up. For real.” Anne starts laughing again.

“Baby, please do not encourage him.” Kate says. Doug covers his mouth with his hand to show how serious he is, but that makes Anne laugh more before she stops and sighs. “We all done?” the two of them nod. Kate smiles, a little pained. “Okay. I know neither of you really want to hear this, for a bunch of different reasons, but we have to talk legal stuff.” Doug resists his urge to groan and glances at his daughter, who suddenly looks very distressed. He drops his hand from his mouth. “I know, baby, I know,” Kate says, also noticing Anne.

Kate pauses, and the other two say nothing. She goes on, “I still have a long road ahead of me and it’s been touch-and-go so far. It’s still possible that I might not make it.”

“Mom,” Anne says.

“Honey,” Kate says, “it is. It’s possible. I have surgeries to go through and while they should be fine, I’m not completely out of the woods. That’s why grammy and pop are here, that’s why your father is here. And even if I make it, which is what we’re all hoping for, I need to name a potential guardian anyway. This whole accident was unexpected and shook us up, but it did make us realize that we now have some new things to consider. Normally, legally, if I passed you would automatically go to your father, but due to all this crap we’ve already been through, he won’t automatically get custody. Unless we change that. So, you’ve gotta tell me what you want.”

Anne nods her head, eyes welling up. “I know you don’t want to face the idea of this, and it’s a _lot,_ even for a strong young girl like you, but I just want you to think about this, okay? Think about it, and tell me.”

“Okay,” Anne says, choking a little.

“And,” Kate heaves a great sigh, “we have to be as realistic as possible. If you decide you want me to name Aunt Nancy or Paulina as a guardian, and you end up with them, they might not want your dad to be coming around,” Kate says, her voice getting quieter, but she can see Hera projecting her words. Anne nods. “If you say you wanna go live with grammy and pop, now that’s a little more likely. But, it’s up to you. And,” Kate glances at Doug, and then at Anne. “I know it sounds harsh, but you don’t need to take his feelings into account. Which, hopefully he’s already told you that.”

Doug opens his mouth, but Anne speaks before him. “He did. He told me he wanted it to be my choice if we see each other, after this.”

Kate pauses. “Good,” says. “Good. So, now you’ve seen him, and talked to him, and same with grammy and pop. I know this is a lot of pressure, and later on we’ll talk about how you feel just the two of us. But, for now, I want you to think about this, and before my next surgery, you can tell me who we’re naming as your guardian, legally, in the event something happens to me.”

“Okay,” Anne says, just above a whisper. There are tears streaming down her face, and Doug’s a little choked up, too. Mostly just from seeing her cry.

“You’re so strong, baby, and so brave. I’m so sorry I have to ask this of you,” Kate says.

“I know,” Anne says. “I... I’m gonna go for a little walk around,” Anne says.

“Okay,” Kate says.

Anne takes a deep rattled breath. “Um. Here’s your phone back,” she says, turning to her father.

“Okay,” Doug says, taking it. “Uh, regardless of what you choose, I can get you something like this for you to have, you know, with the program we’ve been working on. I can even get Hera on it, if you’d like that. You don’t have to decide now, of course.”

“Okay,” she says. He just nods and slips his phone into his pocket, not even bothering to wipe the few tears that escape his eyes. He opens his arms a little in a confused gesture, not sure of what to say next, and Anne must interpret it as an offer for a hug, because she’s suddenly clinging to his waist, crushing his abdomen with her arms. Doug hardly registers what’s happened before his arms are wrapped around her, too.

“See you,” Anne says, looking up at him with tears in her eyes. He nods at her and lets her go. Before she leaves, he waves goodbye, sniffling. Then, he laughs a little and wipes at his eyes, glancing over to see Kate crying just a tiny bit herself.

“So,” Doug starts, but he’s cut off by a knock at the door. He tilts his head. “Should I.. get that? Or, is it a nurse or something?”

“A nurse would just walk right in,” Kate tells him, lifting an arm slowly to wipe her eyes.

“Right,” Doug says, going over to the door. Behind it stands Renée, her brow worried.

“Hey, uh, I just- I saw what I assumed to be your daughter go by crying so I figured... I’d come check in?”

He steps aside and lets her into the room. “Uh, yeah, it’s okay,” he says, wiping the last of his tears of his own cheeks.

“She’ll be okay,” Kate says. “She always is. She’s a tough cookie.”

“She gets that from you,” Doug says.

“Uh, if your story is to be believed, Doug, you survived a hell of a lot, right? And I’m here on my deathbed thanks to a measly car crash,” Kate says. “Don’t sell yourself short.”

“I’m trying to stop doing that,” he says, with a sigh.

“So, this your new girlfriend?” Kate asks, a small smile playing up on her lips.

“Uh, no, um, I’m-“

“Commander Renée Minkowski,” Kate says. “You got a lot of airtime when you died, then rose from the dead. Along with this moron, of course.”

“I, yeah- That’s me.”

“You spent a commendable amount of time alone in space with my ex and survived that. Mad props,” Kate says.

“Thank you?” Renée says, and Kate laughs a little.

“I mean, she was responsible for one of the three, no, four? Was it _four_ times? That I was launched into deep space against my will.”

“If you think I’m not automatically on her side, no matter what the reason, **and** that I wouldn’t have done the exact same thing if given the chance, Doug?” Kate says, “You’re sorely mistaken.”

“Hey,” Renée says, “To be clear, I did not do that out of malice. Yes, I threatened to do it out of malice many times, but the time I actually did it, I was trying to _get him home to his family_ ,” she says, tone clipped and forceful. “Besides, you said you forgave me!”

“One, you _also_ have a family, Renée,” Doug says, “and I have forgiven you, but TWO, I’ll never forget. Well, not again. And three, if felt like Kate would really enjoy the story and _she_ was just in a car crash, so making her happy takes precedence over bugging you a little. Which I do all the time for shits, anyway.”

“You sure you two aren’t dating? Or married, even? This is giving me, like, flashbacks.”

“We’re not,” Renée starts, “I mean, we might be a tiny bit married by now but, no-“

“Oh my god,” Doug says, putting a hand on her shoulder, “we’re work married.”

“NO,” Renée says.

“You’re my work wife,” he says, clapping a hand over his mouth.

“This is a joke about our utterly evil bosses, who were definitely caught up in some sort of twisted, co-dependent work relationship,” Renée explains.

“They had a demonic bond because they’re demons, or they were,” Doug says.

“Douglas-“ Kate starts.

“Kaitlyn,” he grits.

“Doug-“

“Kate-“ he smiles.

“I will kill you,” Kate says, pointed, and he covers his mouth to keep from laughing. “That brings up an interesting point. You said you just got back from hell, but I don’t see how it could have been hell without me there.”

“Oh, please, you’re not even half as evil our bosses. One of which was literally Satan incarnate himself.” 

“Really? I’ve been grossly demoted. Unfair, Doug,” he rolls his eyes at her. She smiles again. “What’s my place if I’m not your evil demon ex anymore?”

“Kate, you never were, not really,” Doug says.  She nods just a little. “You have _way more_ reason to be _way more_ upset with me than I ever did with you, regardless.”

“Mh. Fair.”

“I’m sorry to you, too,” Doug says, quiet and serious. “What I did fucked up everything, and I really regret what became of what was supposed to be our family because of me.”

Kate nods. “I know, Doug. I know. It was a mistake, and a few people got _really_ hurt. But, honestly, it ruined you more than anything, and I know that as well. Think you’ve forgiven yourself yet?”

“I-“ Doug starts, and he glances at Renée. She holds up her hands to signal he’s on his own and glances over at Kate. Doug, too, looks to Kate. “I dunno. Does it matter?”

“If it’ll affect your ability to parent my daughter, in the event that she wants you to,” Kate says, “then yes, it matters. And, you know, for Christ’s sake.” Kate grumbles, then shakes her head. “I know I was a bitch. I know we fought. I know I’m gonna continue to sound like a bitch with everything I’m saying to you. But, we spent a lot of time not talking to each other when we were together, and now I might not get the chance to do so ever again, if things go horribly wrong. And we _all_ know things have a habit of sometimes doing that. So,”

Kate heaves a sigh and Doug waits. Renée glances between them, unsure if she should be hearing this, but Kate continues without asking her to leave and Renée is pretty sure Kate is the type that would have no trouble being up front if she didn’t want her here.

“Doug, I loved you once, and I don’t hate you now. I have _moved on._ But, if the chat earlier was any indication, we both know our child does still care about you, and some part of me does too. You’re right, I’m not a demon, I’m not a monster, even if we were both monsters to each other at one point. I don’t _want_ for you to hate yourself or live your entire life in pain. I may have wished for that at times in the past, I’ll admit, but I never truly meant it, and I still don’t.”

“Okay,” Doug murmurs. “Thank you,” he says. She gives him a pained smile.

“And I will repeat: If your own self-destructive tendencies have even the slightest chance of hurting our baby again, I want to know that. I need you to try, as hard as you can, to forgive yourself and better yourself, so you don’t try to punish yourself and hurt someone in the process.”

“I am,” Doug says, “I promise, I’m going to do my best. I guess you were asleep, but, I told Anne earlier, I can’t promise I won’t fuck up at all, because I probably will, but I will absolutely never hurt her the way I hurt her before. I-I’m in a better place now, and I know when and where to ask for help,” he glances at Renée for a second. “I promise I’m going to _try_ to be better and forgive myself. And this time, I won’t stop trying.”

Silence covers them for a few beats, hearing Doug’s promises and holding them there. Kate glances at Renée. Another moment later, Renée softly says, “I can vouch for that.” Kate nods at them both.

“Okay. I’ll take your word for it, Doug, and your not-girlfriend’s,” Kate says, then she shifts gears, “You two are living together, though, right?” Kate asks.

“Yeah,” Renée says.

“Good. I don’t know you, of course. But, assuming that even if I make it out of this, Anne will want to see Doug again, _she’ll_ probably be getting to know you.”

“Well, to start, I’m really _not_ Doug’s girlfriend,” she says, “despite how we act. I’m actually married, like, for real. I mean, granted, my husband and I sort of open but, y’know- It’s kind of complicated right now.”

“Oh, really?” Kate says. “Huh. That’s fair. Go on,” Kate says, “tell me more about yourself.”

“Um, okay,” Renée says, straightening her back. “Uh, well? I was in the air force, I like flying. A lot. And I’m really good at it. I always dreamed of the stars, and, well, you know this part, but I got there and for a while it was great, and then it went horrible but... I think I can still love space even if it haunts my dreams now. My husband’s name is Dominik, and he’s a journalist. I like musicals? And rom-coms. Doug’s taking me through his stockpile of films he loves,” Renée shrugs her shoulders, “is there anything specific you want to know?”

“I have something I’d like to know,” Doug pipes up, looking between them.

“Oh?” Renée asks, “shoot.”

“How on earth did _she_ get all that from asking once, and I didn’t know you had a husband until after I was on a space station with you, and only two other people, for _over a year?_ ”

Kate laughs, and then winces, “Doug, don’t. It hurts too much to laugh.”

“I’m flippin’ serious. She hardly told me a damn thing about herself!”

“You never asked,” Renée says.

“Bullshit! I tried many times to pursue casual topics of conversation about our lives, at least with regard to, like, hobbies and that sort of crap.”

“And you laughed at me when I said I like musicals!” she says.

“Yeah, but then I told you I liked them too,” Doug retorts. 

“Renée,” Kate says, “I’m really sorry to tell you this but, honest to God, you most certainly have _two_ husbands now. May god have mercy on your soul. I certainly hope your legal and first one is less of a hassle than this fucker.” Kate grins.

“Eh, well. Dominik’s kind of a free-spirit, and he’s not normally too stressful, but I currently have no idea of where he is so that’s been… fun,” she says the last word slowly.

“Huh?” Kate says.

“He’s off back-packing slash soul-searching somewhere, and he’s not been in contact with anybody, since before I returned. I was hoping with the media coverage of our story he might find out and reach out to me, but, no luck yet,” Renée says.

“I’m sorry,” Kate says.

“Eh,” Renée says. “He’s a big boy. I’m sure he’ll come back when he’s meant to, which is the type of thing he’d tell me if he could. And I _do_ have my hands full with my new, no-longer-just-work husband, plus our family of three,” Renée says, smiling over at Doug. He smiles back at her, sheepish. Kate smiles, too, because she can see the care in their eyes. She wonders, for a second, if there was ever that amount of fondness and admiration in a look she shared with Doug, even at the height of their relationship. She’s not sure, which pains just a little, but she’s also happy for him. And, she’s happy for herself that she’s found enough peace to even be happy for him.

“Well. I, for one, am really happy this can happen,” she says plainly. “Even if it took getting into a car crash and possibly dying for it to happen,” Kate says, “but. Silver linings, right?”

“What, pray tell, are you talking about exactly?” Doug asks, as a nurse lets himself into the room behind them.

“I mean all of us being here, talking, like normal people and half-civil exes with your new super-not-a-girlfriend-even-though-she’s-your-wife and, well, obviously your best friend.” Kate says. “Not gonna lie, I never really thought we’d get to this place, Douglas. Wouldn’t gave guessed it in a million years.”

“Kaitlyn,” he counters, quietly. “I didn’t think we would, either. But I’m glad too,” he says, taking her hand in his, or what he can of it with the bandages. She looks up at him, smiling faintly.

“Friends?” Kate asks, as the nurse starts checking some things.

“Friends,” Doug says, then makes a noise like he’s considering something, “friends, slash half-civil exes.”

Kate chuckles, “Ooooh yeah. Definitely that. Always that.”

Doug laughs a little as well. “I hope you know you’re not allowed to die on me, now.”

“I’ll try not to,” she says. “It’s a bit out of my hands, but, I’ll do my best.”

“That’s all you can do,” Doug shrugs.

“Um, excuse me,” the nurse says. “I’m going to have to have Ms. Garcia’s attention in a minute here,” he says, polite.

“Ms. Garcia? Please, that’s my daughter. Call me Kate.”

“Or call her demon wench from hell, she normally responds to that.”

“Douglas,” Kate groans.

“Kaitlyn,” he says, gleefully. “ _Half_ -civil exes.”

The nurse chuckles, “Kate. I’m gonna need a moment with you.”

“Please, kick him out. I wouldn’t mind you sticking around, Renée, but unfortunately by association…” Kate makes a noise to end her sentence and Renée chuckles.

“Yeah, yeah, we’re leaving,” Doug says, letting go of her hand. “See you, Katie.”

“Bye-bye, Dougie,” she makes a face at him and he laughs a little more.

“It was nice meeting you,” Renée says, with sincerity.

“Likewise,” Kate says, smiling at her.

With that, Doug and Renée leave the room and shut the door behind them. For a moment, they stand in the hallway and stare at each other. Renée runs her hand down Doug’s arm and takes his hand again, and he smiles at her, squeezing it. 

“I didn’t realize we were _that_ married,” Doug says.

“Isabel has hinted it to me a couple times, but I’ve always tried to deny or ignore it,” Renée huffs.

“Rude,” Doug says, laughing. She chuckles with him.

“How was your chat with Anne?” Renée asks, her thumb stroking on the back of his hand.

“I think it went well,” Doug says, quiet. “I… I laid my heart out, and did my best to own all my shit, and told her I expect nothing from her but to choose what she wants to happen. It’s in her hands now.”

“Good,” Renée says. She gives a firm nod. They start walking back, holding hands. When they get to the waiting room, the first thing Doug overhears is Daniel’s voice.

“What do kids even like nowadays? Phones, right? Phones are cool, especially ours, anyway, but you already know that. Hm. What about explosions?” Daniel asks, and when Doug and Renée walk in the room, he’s sitting on the loveseat next to Anne, who is holding up a sleek navy-blue phone that is projecting Daniel’s words from the camera to the space between the two of them. “I like explosions a lot.”

Doug hears Anne laugh and respond, “I think explosions are pretty cool.”

“Good,” Daniel says. “I think we’ll get along just fine, then.” Doug looks around and sees that Isabel and his father are also chatting, a little more quietly. They’re standing in the corner, each with their arms crossed in a fairly stiff, military-looking pose. It’s is kind of funny, to Doug. His mother is sitting on a chair.

“Douglas,” Linda says, catching Doug’s attention. “Is everything okay?” Doug’s mother asks him.

“Yeah,” Doug says, “things are good. Kate’s okay, a nurse just went in and kicked us out. How are things out here?”

“I think they’re good. Your daddy made a friend,” Linda says with a little giggle, glancing over at Isabel, “and so did your daughter. And I see you have, as well,” Linda nods at Renée, still holding Doug’s hand. “A friend of some sort, anyway,” she winks.

“Ma,” Doug scoffs, and Renée honest to god blushes and sheepishly lets go of Doug’s hand like a teen caught with her crush. Doug makes a noise of amusement and gives her a bemused smile, and she just shrugs at him in response. He shakes his head and looks back to his mother.

“What now?” Doug asks.

“Well,” Linda says, “I was thinking, if everyone’s interested, we could go out for lunch somewhere. Did any of you eat anything at all?”

“Not really,” Doug says.

“What do we think of this, then?” Linda asks, standing up.

“Hm?” Roger says, and Isabel looks over at him as well.

“Is anyone hungry?” Linda asks, “I was thinking we could go for lunch, if that’s alright with you, dear?” Linda asks, looking at Anne. She’s still looking at Daniel, and he’s muttering about being hungry and she’s now a little confused. Suddenly, his phone beeps in an odd-sounding and somewhat startling way in her hand and she looks at that. Daniel, too, looks confused, because he’s never heard that noise.

“What was that?” Anne asks.

“Sorry!” Hera says, “I hope that was an okay thing to do. Knowing how your hearing aids work, I figured that specific sound would be likely to get your attention.”

“Yeah, I heard it a lot more clearly than I hear most things. It’s okay,” she says.

“Anyway, your grammy is trying to talk to you,” Hera tells her.

“Oh. Huh?” Anne says, looking at Linda.

“I’m sorry, sugarplum,” Linda clicks her tongue, “I was asking you if you’re interested in lunch, and if we should invite our new friends and your daddy along with us.” Linda says, looking at Anne and the words being displayed by Hera.

“Oh,” Anne says again. She looks over at Doug, then at Renée, then at Daniel. “Yeah, lunch sounds good, and I’m fine if they wanna come.”

“Excellent,” Daniel says.

Doug smiles, his heart leaping in his chest that his daughter is willing to spend even another hour with him. It’s more than he could ever ask for and it’s gotta be a good sign, but he reels himself in because he’s still adamant about not putting any expectations on her, or trying to push.

“So, how about you guys pick a place and then we’ll follow you?” Isabel asks. “We rented a car and I’m driving.”

“That sounds good,” Linda says. “Honey, do you wanna pick a place?” Linda looks at Anne again and she hums for a moment before deciding on a locally-owned sandwich place that has the option of chips as a side.

At lunch, Doug sits across from Anne and fields some questions about space, as well as asks her about what she likes to do. Blessedly, she likes films, and she likes to paint and write poetry. She’s apparently a pretty funny kid. Nobody is surprised by that.

Renée sits on Anne’s right side and tries to be hip, which ends up falling flat. Daniel, on Anne’s left, and Isabel, next to Doug, naturally impress Anne with their smooth jokes and snark, which irks Renée. Doug gives her a cheeky grin from across the table and she pouts at him. He gives a sympathetic look next and she just scoffs at him, so he sticks his tongue out at her.

Then, Doug goes back to his sandwich and fielding a new set of questions from his mother on the other side of him, about his plans, how the house is, etc, as Anne chats with Hera from Renée’s phone this time, asking questions about being a computer in a less offensive way than Doug ever managed when he first met Hera.

It’s a good lunch chat, and after that they spend a bit of time puttering around town before going back to the hospital to check in with Kate.

Over the next couple days, Doug gets to spend time with pretty much everyone he currently considers family, which is a blessing in and of itself, but there’s still a veil of worry hanging over the lot of them with Kate still in the hospital and awaiting surgery. Still, the gaggle of people brought together over the tragedy do their best to learn or re-learn about each other, spending time chatting and bonding. There’s a surprising amount of laughter among then, considering the circumstances. Admittedly, at least half of them are the type to use humor to cope, so maybe it’s not that much of a shock after all.

Then, on the Friday morning before Kate is expected to go into surgery, Doug is called into the hospital room along with his parents, and Anne. Renée waits outside. Anne has Doug’s phone again, so she can read what’s being said.

“Normally,” the lawyer explains, “in the event of the death of one parent, the other parent would nearly automatically be granted full custody of the child under the age of eighteen. In this case, with Mr. Eiffel’s past criminal activity, as it was related to his daughter, gave reason for this default to be changed. Currently, if Ms. Garcia were to die, we would look to her will to find a named guardian. If there were no named guardian, the judge would appoint a guardian based on who is the most fit. Then, the guardian, named or otherwise, would go through court to be sure they are fit for the role. Theoretically, Mr. Eiffel could nominate himself for guardian or petition the court for custody as the parent, but would not be guaranteed that he would be considered the most suitable parent. Technically, even if the circumstances were normal and he was legally considered the child’s parent, it is always possible for someone to be deemed unfit for custody or guardianship in the court of law, though not very likely with a legal and/or biological parent. Is all of this clear?”

There is agreement from everyone in the room, through either verbalizations or nods.

“That being said, given that Mr. Eiffel has actually received a full pardon for the crimes he was convicted of, we can start a process to have him reinstated as his child’s parent in the eyes of the law. I must let you know, if you were to die today, Ms. Garcia, the process would not be finished by then, and your will would be considered for a guardian.”

“I understand. I’m not planning on dying today,” she says, and Doug claps a hand over his mouth to keep from letting out a laugh. “And I have named a first and second guardian in my will already.”

“Noted,” the lawyer says with a little smile. “So, Kate. What is the verdict?” 

Kate looks at Anne, who looks at Doug, and then back at Kate. Anne nods, and Kate nods back.

“I almost can’t believe I’m saying it, after all this time,” Kate shakes her head. “We’d like to have, um, Mr. Douglas Fernand Eiffel reinstated as a legal parent to Ms. Anne Garcia.”

“Wonderful. Now, assuming Mr. Eiffel is deemed fit for the role of parent by the court, this is also going to engender things such as visitation rights. You will both have to read the fine print. Anything that is unclear, you can ask me to explain. Is this understood?”

“Yep,” Kate says, popping her p.

“And we have agreement from Mr. Eiffel?”

“Of course,” he says, blinking. As if it were even a question. “Yes.”

“Okay. We have some reading and signing to do,” the lawyer says, taking out a thick stack of paper to go through with Doug and Kate. Anne talks with her grandparents to pass the time, which ends up being quite a bit of time indeed. 

“Okay,” the lawyer says, once it’s all done. “We’re all done here. This will start the process, but, as you read, there will be various other things to go over and flesh out at time goes on. You’ll have to get used to seeing my face, again.”

“Always a pleasure,” Kate says. “I never thought I’d end up having to deal with legal crap so damn often, but, y’know.”

“It’s more common than you’d think,” the lawyer says with a shrug. “Thank you for all being here today.”

With that, the lawyer takes their leave, and Renée hesitantly pokes her head through the door that was left ajar.

“You can come in,” Kate’s the one to say, and so she does.

“How did everything go?” 

“Fine. Doug’s on his way to legally having a daughter again,” Kate says, and Doug looks over at her, smiling more widely and genuinely than Renée has probably ever seen before.

“That’s amazing,” Renée says, walking over to Kate. “I’m really happy for you, all of you.”

“Thanks,” Doug says, then places a hand on Anne’s shoulder. She looks at him, and he brings his hands up to ask her “How are you,” in sign language.

She signs to him that “Great!” with a smile on her face, before moving in for a hug. He hugs her back, tight.

Once he pulls away, Doug signs “I love you.”

Anne nods at him, smiling, and hugs him again. Doug pats her hair.

Renée and Kate exchange a few words themselves, and Doug’s parents start to try and corral them to get them out of the room as a couple of nurses start to filter in. Kate still has a knee surgery to get to, today. Linda breaks up the hug between Anne and Doug, and Anne goes over to hug her mother as best she can until the nurses are the ones who have to tap her on the shoulder and get her going.

“Hey, kid,” Doug says and signs. “You ready to go?”

“Yeah, dad,” Anne says and signs back. He smiles again, a bittersweet mix of emotions, but overall he’s elated. She’s only called him dad a handful of times.  

“Alright,” he says. “Let’s go. We’ll see mom again in a few hours.”

Anne nods, and takes his hand as they leave the room. Once they’re in the hall standing around, Renée takes his other hand, and Doug looks to her, a bit surprised. He smiles. She smiles back, gives a squeeze, and lets it go again. They meet up with Daniel and Isabel to leave the hospital for a little while, letting Kate get prepped for surgery and taking their minds off any negative possible outcome.

It’s weird, but ironic, to think that the tragedy of a car crash once tore their family apart, and now another one has brought their family back together, with new additions to it no less. Everyone hopes, and prays, that Kate will be okay, and of course only time will tell but things are really looking up for them. Everyone in their entirely little mixed-up, mish-mashed family is pretty sure that everything is going to turn out okay.

And it does.

 


End file.
